Rutgers reaches pivotal point with crucial conference matchup at Indiana

Head coach Kyle Flood makes his first appearance on the sideline for Rutgers since Sept. 12 on Saturday at Indiana. The Knights look to bring their record back up to the .500 mark in a potential swing game.

If there is one positive to pick from the handful of questions surrounding the Rutgers football team as it enters the 2015 season’s halfway point, the focus is entirely back to what happens on the field.

Following the reinstatement of head coach Kyle Flood on and the return of star wide receiver Leonte Carroo last Wednesday, the Scarlet Knights (2-3, 0-2) will be at the closest to full force and normalcy when they face off with Indiana on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

With a less than favorable second half of the fall lingering as No. 1 Ohio State (Oct. 24) and No. 12 Michigan (Nov. 7) await with a road trip to Wisconsin (Oct. 31) sandwiched in between, the difference between evening the record back up at .500 and falling to 2-4 becomes monumental.

“It’s gotta be a part of your culture. It’s gotta come from the seniors. It’s gotta come from the upperclassmen,” Flood said. “When you play in any conference or division as we do, you have to have the ability to turn the page because regardless of whether you were pleased or displeased with the result last week, the next team’s coming.”

But some signs of the valiant effort do give reason to believe that the momentum is tilting in the Knights’ favor.

Coupled with a recent skid where the Hoosiers (4-2, 0-2) were most recently bounced out of Penn State in a sloppy 29-7 loss — similar to Rutgers’ 28-3 falter on Sept. 19 in Happy Valley — this game holds equal weight for both teams.

It’s hard to evaluate Indiana’s true identity, but that should clear depending on who lines up under center.

Hoosiers head coach Kevin Wilson said earlier in the week that he would split reps between senior Nate Sudfeld and sophomore Zander Diamont before leaving medical personnel to evaluate the two, but Flood reaffirmed that his gut feeling remains with Sudfeld getting the nod.

If the Indiana gunslinger mans the offense, Rutgers will need all of the help it can get in a secondary fighting through injuries and inexperience.

But Flood, who said offensive coordinator Ben McDaniels and assistant head coach Norries Wilson had full parameters in making a decision to insert sophomore Hayden Rettig in as quarterback throughout the past three games, mainly supported Laviano’s recent play.

“I’m pleased with where Chris is,” Flood said. “I think he’s making good decisions, for the most part.”

As Carroo makes just his third start of the season after playing only nine of the team’s 20 quarters this year, the senior captain leads the Big Ten in touchdown receptions (6) to accompany his team-high 315 yards on 14 catches.

Regardless of who the defense throws at him in Bloomington, Carroo’s nature is to lead the way.

“I love to compete. I’m a competitor, so by any means I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna play as hard as I can,” he said. “My motivation is to make plays for my team when my team needs me, so me just not being out there those two games just hurt me, so I knew I had to come back and do whatever I can to let my teammates know I’m still their captain and I still wanna win a championship.”

But if Carroo wants to keep the slightest of those chances alive, it all starts with a pivotal conference matchup at Indiana.

“Saturday, like I said, we’re not around here looking for moral victories,” Carroo said. “But I’m very excited with the way we play and the potential that this team has and we can go out there and prove that we can play with anybody. We just gotta pay attention to the little details and just finish the game.”

For updates on the Rutgers football team, follow @GarrettStepien and @TargumSports on Twitter.